J M Baxi Group sets to win ₹434.17-cr port project

J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Ltd, a unit of Mumbai-based J M Baxi Group, is all set to win the rights to run a container terminal contract of the state government owned, V O Chidambaranar Port Authority (VOC Port) in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district entailing an investment of ₹434.17 crore. The privatization of Berth No 9 into a container terminal (depth of 14.2 metres) with an investment of ₹434.17 crore will boost VOC Port’s container handling capacity by 6 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year to 1.8 million TEUs a year. VOC Port, the third largest container handler among the dozen State-owned ports, currently has two container terminals in its inner harbor, run separately by PSA SICAL Terminals Ltd (draft of 11.7 metres) and Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal Pvt Ltd (draft of 14.2 metres) with a capacity to handle a combined 1.2 million TEUs.

Dhruv Kotak-led J M Baxi Ports & Logistics placed a price bid of ₹1,900.44 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) on a tender for converting a bulk cargo berth at the port into a container terminal with private funds, when the price bids were opened recently. This is the second contract success in a month for J M Baxi Ports & Logistics after it triumphed in a tender issued by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) to privatise the container handling terminal self-run by the State-owned port located near Mumbai. The newest contract wins will boost the valuation of J M Baxi Ports & Logistics ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO).